Mounting Wine Geek Difficulties

It goes without saying that I tend to spend a lot of time weeding through wine lists when I'm having a big meal at a restaurant. But a recent issue I encountered is just how difficult it is to geek-out on a wine list while on a date.

Conversation flow is obviously important during the first round of getting-to-know-you dates, but my first instinct when the wine list arrives is to plow my way through it in order to come up with a wine game plan for the night.  I began to debate in my mind the merits of NZ Pinot or something bolder, like an Aussie Shiraz.  I began to remember some of the excellent NZ Pinots I enjoyed last year and thought it was such a shame that I'd been neglecting them recently. I then reminded myself that my life sucked as I didn't have a wine cellar at this stage of my life.  I called myself a wine hack or something similar. By the time that all happened, I realized that my nose was buried in the wine list and my date was wearing an expression that seemed to question my status as a participating member of this galaxy. 

Dating tip to self - only minimal wine geekiness can be allowed on the first couple of dates!

Anyhow, I realized that the NZ Pinot on the list called Mt Difficulty was more than fate.  The enjoyable difficulty that I was having in choosing the wine for the night would be resolved by The Mt. Difficulty 2004 Pinot. 

Seriously, this wine is absolutely delicious and recommend you track it down straight away.  This NZ Pinot does a nice job of balancing the finesse of a traditional Pinot with a new world, full, deep finish and an excellent, earthy nose.  To give you a sense of how big this Pinot is, the wine perfectly matched my entree of a snail, oxtail ravioli with smoked paprika oil.  I also anticipate this wine would be an excellent pairing for morels, so I will be certainly tracking this Pinot down for upcoming Spring drinking plans. 

Comments

[elizabeth]

or date people who find your wine geek-outs endearing...?

[steph]

i totally agree with the above comment, but that's neither here nor there. if you can easily find tasmanian pinot in the US, it's also worth trying. was just in tassie for a long weekend and had a different one each night with dinner...mmmm

[joe]

i hear you both, but that's what the first dates are for, right? if i limited my dating options to wine geeks only, i'd be a lonely dude.

i will look out for the tassie pinots, thanks steph.